I think I've played maybe 3 hours of the single player story so far and about 5 minutes of multi-player free roam (just to check it out). So far I like it, but don't love it. IGN gave it like a 9.7, it has an 8 for me, 3 hours in. For reference I believe GTAIV received a 10.0 rating when I woulda said 8.9 or so....

Pros so far in single player:

*Looks great
*I've had some fun with the lasso
*Hunting was surprisingly fun
*Lots of random encounters with strangers
*They nailed the feel of a western IMO
*Voice acting is good

Cons
*Takes some getting used to controlling the horse.. especially when going from a gallop to a stop (I'm used to cars with breaks I guess)
*Tutorials are poorly done- you get small text telling you what to do WHILE you are trying to do it. Ex. I completely winged my first duel cuz I had little time to read the directions on how to duel while a dude is fixing to shoot me in the face.
*The single player seems designed to have you be a good guy. Main character is polite, and crime has yet to pay off for me. EX, haven't found a way to rob a bank, you get more $ hunting then "mugging" people.. but maybe that changes as the single player plays out.
* travel by horseback over the sparsely inhabited west is a bit boring as I find myself holding down the A button literally for minutes at a time as my dude gets from Point A to Point B. There is an instant travel feature once you've been somewhere before at least.

Maybe a premature review, but 3 hours in I say it's good but not great.

Great game if you ask me. I love it. I haven't had any bugs yet. Not a wild west fan in general at all, when it comes to movies, stories, books, games, you name it... This game though is highly addictive, and I enjoy it. I'd say I am about 40& complete of the story mode. There are so many extra quests and side things you can do, and then there is online as well. Definitely a good purchase...

Great game, much prefer it to GTA IV, mainly because my (in-game) cousin isn't calling me every five to go bowling or something equalling annoying, you can proceed at your own pace with the story and take breaks to do side-quests when you want, instead of being interrupted constantly. Missions are well varied and you ever feel like they're a chore to get you to the next plot point.
Getting from A to B can take a while but the fast travel system is good, the times when you're forced to go on a long ride are actually entertaining as you're with someone and the conversation is entertaining, there's also the chance you might be attacked at any moment so you're a bit on edge!
The presentation in the game is fantastic from the graphics to voice acting, there is the odd graphical glitch but it's to be expected in large open world games.
In short, get it, it's a a very well made game that will last at least 20 hours (talking story only, not including the time you can waste on challenges/side-quests etc.), so it's well worth your money.

Great game, much prefer it to GTA IV, mainly because my (in-game) cousin isn't calling me every five to go bowling or something equalling annoying, you can proceed at your own pace with the story and take breaks to do side-quests when you want, instead of being interrupted constantly. Missions are well varied and you ever feel like they're a chore to get you to the next plot point.Getting from A to B can take a while but the fast travel system is good, the times when you're forced to go on a long ride are actually entertaining as you're with someone and the conversation is entertaining, there's also the chance you might be attacked at any moment so you're a bit on edge!The presentation in the game is fantastic from the graphics to voice acting, there is the odd graphical glitch but it's to be expected in large open world games.In short, get it, it's a a very well made game that will last at least 20 hours (talking story only, not including the time you can waste on challenges/side-quests etc.), so it's well worth your money.

I bought the game and I actually think even traveling long distances with the horse is cool. Just me and my horse, riding into the sunset, coyotes growling and birds flying.

Also, the unique events are great too. The world seems more real when basically anything can happen, whether it's a random guy shooting himself or a woman being hunted by wolfs.

looks like you made your decision to get it, but i would like to add i love this game. i rarely buy games but thought this looked amazing. i rarely play open world games, but this has me hooked. i guess my brain just enjoys the old west cowboy concept more than the GTA modern day stuff.

i have put a lot of hours into this game already and still have tons to do.

I love Maltby, but to say he wasn't a ****** is a dis-service to his career of douchebaggery.

I definitely echo W_F_I_E's concerns about the tutorials being poorly done, and the horse controls needing a bit more work, but other than that I'm really liking it.

I've played the previous Red Dead game (Red Dead Revolver), Gun, both Call of Juarez games, and lots of other Old West games. It's one of my favorite periods for games. And I think this one has potential to be the best I've played. But potential is only worth anything if you live up to it, so we'll see how it goes.

RDR is a great game. But I definitely wouldn't say it's rockstar's best game ever. I don't have much beef with the game. But the one beef I do have is a big one for me. The game is extremely easy to beat. No challenge at all on any mission. In fact, It was so easy that I stopped using "dead eye" about halfway into the game. And even without using any dead eye for the rest of the game, it was still very easy to beat. Whereas rockstar's GTA series was always a challenge at one point or another. Still, I would recommend RDR to anyone. I just think that overall GTA is the better series of rockstar games.

This game has definitely grown on me. I really like the depth of the game and once I discovered that the right bumper (xbox) stops the horse I was much happier. I actually forget that dead eye is a feature of the game, I should start using that more.

This game has definitely grown on me. I really like the depth of the game and once I discovered that the right bumper (xbox) stops the horse I was much happier. I actually forget that dead eye is a feature of the game, I should start using that more.

I just beat the game, well the main game, with the missions. I did most of the side quests as well (the ones that come up as ? marks on the map) Now I've been trying to get all the hunting and flower gathering tasks. I just bought Tiger Woods 11 yesterday though so this game will be on hold for a while

I finished the game 100% a couple days ago. This Bureau uniform is nice indeed. I'm now going for the trophies. Still 2 SP-trophies and 7 MP-trophies remaining. Plus, of course, the "Legend of the West" -trophy once you've gotten all the other trophies possible.

I finished the game 100% a couple days ago. This Bureau uniform is nice indeed. I'm now going for the trophies. Still 2 SP-trophies and 7 MP-trophies remaining. Plus, of course, the "Legend of the West" -trophy once you've gotten all the other trophies possible.

Damn, you are showing that game what's up!I'm at about 80% completion as of right now.

I beat the game Monday night, now I'm just wrapping up loose odds & ends to get 100%.

I can now easily say that this is my favorite Old West genre game I've played. Rockstar hit a home run with this one. Emotional story, exciting gameplay, memorable characters, inspiring soundtrack. This game had it all. While it's not their best ever (GTA IV would be hard to beat), I'd feel safe saying it's their second best. This will be a keeper, for sure.

I just wish that I could keep all my weapons, houses, horses, and outfits in a second playthrough. I worked hard for the Legend of the West outfit, and I wish I could keep it next go-round.

Oh, and I hate those damn cougars. The number of times I'd get up from picking some rare flower and BAM!!

I beat the game Monday night, now I'm just wrapping up loose odds & ends to get 100%.

I can now easily say that this is my favorite Old West genre game I've played. Rockstar hit a home run with this one. Emotional story, exciting gameplay, memorable characters, inspiring soundtrack. This game had it all. While it's not their best ever (GTA IV would be hard to beat), I'd feel safe saying it's their second best. This will be a keeper, for sure.

I just wish that I could keep all my weapons, houses, horses, and outfits in a second playthrough. I worked hard for the Legend of the West outfit, and I wish I could keep it next go-round.

Oh, and I hate those damn cougars. The number of times I'd get up from picking some rare flower and BAM!!

*edit* Completed 100% tonight. Now onto a new play-through!

Haha. Totally agree with this. IMO cougars are even deadlier than bears.

About 100% completion *SPOILER ALERT*

Spoiler

The Remember My Family stranger mission was definitely cool. Kinda reminded me of Godfather II when young Don Vito went back to Sicily to revenge for his family. I immediately thought about that when I did the mission.

Haha. Totally agree with this. IMO cougars are even deadlier than bears.

Agreed. You can at least hear the bears coming. Plus they're slow enough to be easy to handle on foot. Cougars, not so much...

About 100% completion *SPOILER ALERT*

Spoiler

The Remember My Family stranger mission was definitely cool. Kinda reminded me of Godfather II when young Don Vito went back to Sicily to revenge for his family. I immediately thought about that when I did the mission.

Also agreed...

Spoiler

I thought it brought a bit of redemption (ironic, given that's the name of the game) to the ending, which felt too cold. A happy fairy dust ending of course wouldn't have felt right given the story, but this was almost the opposite end of the spectrum. During that final duel, I used my high powered pistol, and loaded all 8 shots into that bastard's head. Man that felt good.

Been wanting to get this since Day 1 of the release, but I'd been to busy getting my freshly-acquired boat up and going. Bought it yesterday, hope to play it tonight once I get the templates for these here forums done.